Thrift /Frith /Firth Surname DNA Project
- Results

The text below is unfinished or outdated but will be retained here for a while
As of December 2010 there is only one THRIFT in the SMGF database (this is Nathaniel Thrift, currently in the project) and no FRITH or FIRTH. There is one FREED and one FRID in in SMGF. There are 3 Firths and one Furth in the Ancestry.com database, all apparently related, all of haplogroup I2b2. Three other entries from this project have been manually entered into the Ancestry.com database. An Ancestry.com subgroup of the Thrift /Frith /Firth DNA Project has been set up to accommodate members with entries in Ancestry.com's database.
DNA Test Results Chart: In the chart on the "Y-DNA Results" page, the columns labeled "393" etc (DYS numbers) are distinct markers. The whole set of markers for a given individual is called that person's haploTYPE. (Haplogroups are different from haplotypes and are tested using different methods, although often the haplogroup can be predicted by knowing the haplotype.) For each marker, an individual has a testable number of repeats (called STR's, short tandem repeats). The number of repeats is indicated in the table. Although these are usually passed down from father to son without change, the repeat numbers at a given marker occasionally do change (mutate), usually by plus or minus 1; these mutations DO happen within historical time, and for each marker the rate at which mutations occur is a constant which is known approximately. (If there were no mutations there would be no point in studying these patterns; everyone would be identical.)

The average mutation rate for the STR markers is about 1 per marker per 300 generations; if a whole set of 60 markers is monitored, this predicts roughly one change will be detected per 5 generations, on average. (Remember, the STR's of the Y chromosome are special regions of DNA and are not genes; mutations in actual genes occur by a different mechanism and are much more rare than this.)

If two people have 37-marker (or more) haplotypes that are identical, the two people are very likely related (12- and 25-marker haplotypes don't provide enough information to be able to say this). If the two people differ by at most 1 or 2 units out of 37 markers or more, they are still likely to be related, but a mutation has occurred in the time since their Most Recent Common Ancestor, thus they are likely to be more distant relatives. Markers labeled in a red box tend to mutate faster than markers labeled in boxes of the shades of blue, thus if two people have a 1 unit difference in a red marker, the Most Recent Common Ancestor may be a bit more recent than if there is a 1-unit difference in a blue marker. The wording of the section "DNA Test Results (Alleles) for Project Members" may be a bit confusing; it is set by FTDNA and meant only for project administrators.